Glacier National Park

This past weekend Mike and I went to Glacier Park and camped out at the KOA in West Glacier. I haven't been to Glacier since I was 8 or 9 years old with my Uncle Buzzy, Aunt Imelda and Cousin Becky. Mike said he went when he was younger, also, but cannot remember how old. I don't remember much about the park except for the "Going To The Sun Road" and freaking out about how close to the edge we were.

We stopped in Sandpoint, ID and picked up my "Aunt" Debi, (my mom's cousin). She rode with us to Columbia Falls. That is where her mom and dad live. While there, we had lunch with Uncle Alfred (Grandma Aggie's brother), Auntie Rosie and cousin Kathy. Cousin Carol dropped in with 2 of her grandchildren while we were there. It was the first time that Mike had met them. I keep telling him, I come from a big family! It was very nice to see Uncle Alfred, Auntie Rosie, Kathy and Carol. Just wish we had more time to visit!

Here are some pictures of our "camping trip". We saw so much in a little bit of time. We took almost 500 pictures (good thing for digital cameras!). We both said that if Walker went, she would have to have at least a week there, she takes her time finding the perfect picture and then she takes a "bazillion" pictures!! These pictures do not do the justice of what you actually see or smell while you are there, the fresh alpine air, the trees, the flowers, (the dead skunks on the road!)

Here is a little information about Glacier National Park:

In 1910, President Taft signed a bill establishing it as the 10th National Park

Glacier is a hiker's paradise with over 700 hiking trails

There is only one major road through the whole park, the "Going-to-the-Sun Road", it took 11 years to make, was finished in 1931.

Home Away From Home Mike cooking up a storm.
Me doing the cleaning!

I don't know the name of some of these places, but I think they are gorgeous. They are not in any particular order, but if I remember the names of the places, I will put them near the picture.

This is a picture Mike took out the window of the Jeep, over the ledge of the highway, while he is yelling at me to move the Jeep closer to the middle of the road. "It's at least 4000 feet down there!!!""the hills are alive, with the sound of music"!!We were told that they just opened Logan Pass 2 weeks before we came here because they had so much snow to plow through, this is what is left of the snow near the roadside.Looking straight up the cliff, Mike wishing he could climb this big rock.First tunnel going east on the highwayThis is the exit of the above tunnel, can you see the water drops? There is a small waterfall at this exit. We had our sunroof opened and got a little wet.Picture perfect!! This is so BEAUTIFUL!!!See how narrow the road is? There was an avalance here in 2006 that they are still working on this area of the road, mostly at night, less carsWhat a beautiful green "carpet" All different age levels of the trees"can't see the tree through the forest!". Here are some "water pictures" I don't remember the name of any of the creeks, but I think I can remember the lakes. I love this picture. Someone took a picture of this waterfall a couple weeks ago and it was in the Spokesman Review, that is what made me decide that I would like to go to Glacier. This picture was taken by Mike. The next three pictures are of the "Weeping Wall". This is a comparison picture, so you can notice how large everything really is...our poor Jeep, looks like a Matchbox Car!!Does a bear poop in the woods? This picture would say "yes"We thought this was a cool looking tree, it was struck by lightning, the marking swirled all around the tree. Funking tree at St. Mary's LakeHow big is this tree? "It's this BIG"How big? Well, ooh....there is a spider web!Lake McDonaldClose up of Lake McDonald. Look at all the rocks! Caite would have a blast rock hunting!!Heaven's Peak. There was a large fire here in 2003.3 Arches. Check out all the rock work!Check out the color changes, you can really see the glacier water. Out back of the visitor center at Logan Pass, there is a hike up to Hidden Lake. I tried not to go, I guess I didn't whine enough, but oh my!! the VIEW made me remember exactly why I love Montana so much. Not a cloud in the sky!! This is the start of the hike, see that big mountain in the background? Yea, that is where we hiked to! Through a lot of snow!Some of the silly people that were doing this hike were in flip flops or barefoot, the fools! Didn't there momma's ever tell them they would get sick by getting their feet wet in the snow with no shoe's on?A little runoff up by the mountainHidden Lake-what a view! A little waterfall on the way up the mountainMike took his time with this picture, he wanted to get the reflection of the trees in the lake. There were crazy kids sliding down this snowy hill on garbage bags!Different view of Hidden LakeI called this "toes up". This reminds of toes pointing upwards.St. Mary's LakeA fella fly fishing in Lake McDonald, Can you see the line whipping across the top?St. Mary's Lake-What a beautiful Glacier Green!Different view of St. Mary'sHaystack WaterfallThis deer was about 10 feet from usThese two wolverines were playing around. At first we thought they were wolves, but they were to small. They were rolling around in the snow, playing like little puppies. Ground Squirrel eating an almond. He is less than 5 feet from us. Hoary Marmot-I believe he was posing for us!!OH MY GOSH!! I had said, "I hope we get to see some mountain sheep before we leave" and there they were! A whole herd of them!! I think we counted 11. You could tell who was the dominant male of the herd. They were so close to us, I was standing behind Mike while he was taking pictures, as if Mike could save us they decided to charge! We saw them on the path behind the visitor center on Logan Pass"Grandpa, Dad and junior"check out "this rack"!This mountain goat was posing for us also. It was starting to lose its winter coat. Look at the baby!! It was so cute! Can't believe we got a picture away from his momma!The wildflowers were in abundance! It was like God had put seeds in his hand and sprinkled them all over the mountain side. I cannot believe how many there were. This is "late" spring for Glacier because they had such a long winter, so the flowers are now all in bloom and looking absolutely lovely!Mountain LilyIndian PaintbrushWild DaisyThese teepee's were setup on the east enterance of Glacier park at St. Mary's.

It was a wonderful weekend. The price of gas in Columbia Falls, on the west side of Glacier was $4.07, at St. Mary's it was $4.49. What a big difference!! I think the next time we go to Glacier park, we are going to have to take a couple more days. To much to see!!